Blood Lust
by thatsvintage
Summary: There's a rule that says vampires and humans aren't allowed to fall in love and the consequences are fatal. Troy Bolton is about to get more than he's bargained for when he meets the new Wildcats. They're mysterious, deadly, and have a taste for blood.
1. The New Wildcats

**Blood Lust ****© thatsvintage**

**Disclaimer: **I **do not** own High School Musical or the Night World Series. Original characters **do not** belong to me and all credit goes towards their rightful owners.

**Full Synopsis: **The Night World is a secret society that lives among the human race; it is full of vampires, witches, shape shifters, and werewolves that walk belong side us each and every day. Troy Bolton's world is soon turned upside down when he meets the new 'cats' in school. They're mysterious, deadly, and have a taste for blood.

This fanfic is Rated **M **for violence, strong language, and sexual content.

* * *

**Chapter One **

**The New Wildcats**

It was a chilly Wednesday morning, the wind howling loudly against the trees. Troy Bolton awoke with a start and stared blankly at the ceiling. Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, he slowly sat up as he listened to the groans of his house as the wind hit against it with tremendous force.

"I had that dream again," he sighed, lying back down on his bed. Tonight was the third night in a row he dreamed of the mysterious raven-haired girl. He heard the old oak tree give a great _thwack_, nearly colliding into the glass window. Troy glanced at the clock and gave a slight groan.

_It's only 4:40, _he thought silently to himself. Rolling over onto his stomach, he covered his head with his pillow, desperately trying to silence the sounds of the storm and fall back into his peaceful state of unconsciousness. He could have sworn he could hear the girl's whispers as he fell back into his slumber.

* * *

The hallways of East High roared loudly as kids returned from their three week break. The jocks gave each other firm back slaps while the cheerleaders squealed with delight upon the others returning. Troy walked down the hall, narrowly avoiding bumping into a couple that was deep in conversation. He sighed. There was nothing new about this school. No matter how long he stayed away, the cliques and stereotypes would all be the same.

Opening his locker, he glanced over towards the inside of his locker door, smiling a little to himself as he glanced over the Polaroid photographs of him and his friends. One was of him and Chad, right after going on their first canoeing trip with his father and coach, Jack Bolton. Another was of him and his girlfriend of six months, Claire Darwin. The photograph was taken the night they first met at Silva Lanes Bowling Alley. It had just happened to be a battle of the sexes that night and the girls also just happened to win. In turn, the guys had to buy dinner for everyone.

He ran his finger over Claire's smiling face and smiled inwardly to himself.

Absorbed in his own thoughts, he wasn't aware of an approaching figure behind him. Silently, Claire took her hands and placed them over Troy's eyes.

"Guess who?" She cooed into his ear. "I'll give you a hint; she's sweet, smart, captain of the cheerleading squad, and has an insanely good looking boyfriend." Troy chuckled as he turned around while placing his hands on Claire's waist, pulling her closer to him as he pecked her on the lips.

"Hey, babe. I missed you." He whispered while playfully rubbing his nose against hers. Claire giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Well, gee. We only haven't seen each other since last night, Troy." She stated mischievously, her eyes gleaming under the hallway lighting.

Troy smirked and let go of Claire just as Chad Danforth and Jason Cross made their way over to the couple.

"'Sup, Troy?" Chad exclaimed, slapping his teammate on the back with such force, Troy had to stifle a grunt. Jason laughed as Troy glared over in Chad's direction.

Clearing his throat, Troy nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "Nothing much; I can already tell this semester is going to be crazier than the last, man!"

"You're telling me! I've already spotted at least five cuties I want to get to know, if you get what I mean." Jason wiggled his eyebrows, causing Troy and Chad to laugh as Claire rolled her eyes.

"You're such a pig, Jason." She scowled. Jason and Claire had dated and broken up two weeks before she and Troy got together. It wasn't that much of a shock when she and Jason broke up; he had cheated on her with at least three other girls. Claire only found out about his alleged screwing around when she was anonymously tipped off during cheerleading practice.

"Hey, you know what they say. Don't hate the playa, hate the game." Jason said, shrugging his shoulders before walking off. Chad motioned for Troy to follow but Claire stopped him.

"You're still meeting me today after the first lunch, right?" She asked, giving Troy a slight frown when he looked up towards Jason's retreating figure before answering.

"Yea, of course; I might be a bit late. You know, with practice and all." Troy said, giving her a small, apologetic smile. Claire nodded though her eyes showed her disapproval.

"Don't stand me up like you did last time. I am not going to wait for you, I mean it." Without giving him time to say anything else, she promptly kissed him before walking off towards her class on the other side of the school.

* * *

Sharpay Evans made her way to Mrs. Darbus' drama and music theory class. Giving Mrs. Darbus a brief air-kiss, she made her way over towards Troy and the rest of the jocks. Chad gave her a quick onceover before letting the look of disgust take over his face. No doubt she was there to try and seduce Troy, again.

Sharpay sat atop of Troy's desk and gave him a slight tap on his shoulder. Troy tried his best to hide the grimace that so desperately wanted to make itself seen on his face. He looked up at Sharpay wearily and waited for her to say something or at least go away.

Flashing one of her winning smiles, she ran her fingers through his hair and laughed slightly when he pulled back. "Hey Troy," she cooed. He grunted in reply with an unreadable expression plastered on his face. Taking that as a chance, she hopped off of his desk and leaned over it, making sure her cleavage was noticeable as she looked him right in the eye.

Troy glanced down at her chest before moving his eyes back up to match her stare. Sharpay just couldn't get the fact that they were through. Two years ago, they ended up dating for a total of three months. The relationship ended with a broken vase and thrown shoe, both incidents were Sharpay's fault.

"Would you like to do a little favor for me, Troy?" She asked, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Her platinum blonde hair hung in loose curls on her back as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. Before she was able to tell him what the favor was, the bell signaling that fourth period had begun rang.

"Alright class, please take your seats. Mrs. Evans, kindly remove yourself from Mr. Bolton's desk and find the seat I've assigned to you." Darbus clapped her hands, ushering Sharpay hurriedly to the other side of the room. Fixing her glasses, she began to pace slowly in front of the room. "Today we'll be reviewing _Romeo and Juliet _by Shakespeare. Take out your notebooks and sit with your original groups for a couple of weeks back."

Chattering and sounds of chairs scraping against the linoleum floor echoed throughout the room as the students did as they were told. Someone tapped Troy on the shoulder for the second time that morning, snapping him out of his daze. He turned to notice that his group had already formed in the back and were waiting for him to join. Jason grinned and waved for him to follow towards the back. Troy stood and quickly made his way towards Chad who was of course sitting amongst a group of cheerleaders.

"What's the point of this assignment anyway?" Chad began as Troy took his seat beside Amber, one of East High's loudest—and bustiest—cheerleaders. "I mean, seriously. All this crap speaks about is how these two teens fall in love after knowing each other for what seems like a few hours and they both die at the end. If you ask me, this entire read was just a way to waste my break." Chad said grouchily. Amber gave him a sharp poke in the ribs.

"It's more to it than that, Chad. You would know if you'd paid any attention a couple of weeks ago." She rolled her eyes, not the least bit surprised that Chad hadn't. Troy grinned as Chad sent a glare in Amber's direction and quickly joined in on the discussion.

A bit of time passed before the class quieted into what seemed like hushed whispers. Troy didn't notice as he went on with his analogy on how the story should have ended. He noticed Jason looking past him and looked at him questioningly.

"Dude, what are you staring at—,"

Following his friend's gaze, Troy ceased all movement when he saw finally saw what caught his friend's attention. Recognition hit him like a ton of bricks as he gaped at the figure that moved through the door timidly. He couldn't believe it, it was _her_. The girl from his dreams!

He saw her unusually deep crimson eyes with the amber specks surrounding the irises, her long flowing raven hair that hung loosely around her shoulders and the small of her back. She had creamy pale skin that contrasted with her small pink lips. The clothes she wore were curve fitting and complimenting, making her seem like she'd just come off a runway. Troy couldn't help but stare.

She was beautiful, unlike anything he'd ever seen before. He felt as if he were caught in a trance, not being able to escape and strangely not wanting to. The girl seemed to float over towards Mrs. Darbus, as if she were a ghost. She handed Mrs. Darbus a single sheet of paper and was then pointed in the direction of her seat. She sat down without making a sound and looked to the front of the room, already appearing bored out of her mind.

Troy felt a nudging at his shoulder and glanced over to see Chad giving him a look. "See anything you like?" He whispered jokingly. Troy chuckled a little and shook his head. "Hey man, if you were single, I wouldn't blame you if you were to call dibs on her. I mean, damn. She is capital H-O-T, fine!"

The new girl shot a glance over in their direction, seeming slightly amused as if she'd heard everything Chad had said a few seconds before. Troy gave her a friendly half wave and was relieved when she did the friendly gesture back. Her lips curved up into a shy smile as she looked away from him and down towards her book.

Troy felt himself gazing at her longingly, taking in her small frame and features. She glanced back up with her piercing crimson eyes, causing Troy to blush having been caught staring. He quickly turned back around where Chad and Amber were laughing over a joke Troy had clearly missed. He sighed and wiped the perspiration from his brow and began scribbling diligently on a piece of paper, waiting for the period to be over.

He felt the new girl's eyes boring into him as he wrote down nonsense on his paper, desperately trying to remain interested in the conversation but failing miserably. This moment was too surreal for him, he couldn't believe—as corny as it sounded—the girl of his dreams literally just walked into his classroom.

Ten minutes later, Mrs. Darbus cleared her throat. "Okay class, please rearrange your desks back to their original spots and chat quietly until the bell sounds."

The sound of chairs and desks scraping against the linoleum floor echoed through the class once more as everyone did as they were told. Different voices filled the room during the process until the whole room was droning with muttered conversations. Troy sat at his desk, debating whether he should look back at her or not. He hardly knew her, but he couldn't help but feel so attracted to her. The bell rang before he made his decision and his heart sank a little. He looked back finally, only to realize that she was already gone.

That was weird. He hadn't even seen her get up; much less pass him to get out of the out of the classroom. Standing up rather quickly, he made his way out of the room as fast as he could while scanning the hallway, looking for her. He felt someone tap his shoulder and spun around, nearly colliding into someone else. "Sorry," he apologized quickly before his breath caught into his throat.

She smiled at him, showing off her pearly whites. "Hi there." She said softly, her voice strangely soothing.

"Hey, yourself." Troy said, clearing his throat to rid of himself of the lump that formed.

_Yea, that's a perfect first impression, Troy. _He thought, annoyed with himself. He heard her giggle lightly and watched as a smile played at the corners of her mouth. He realized that he liked her laugh, it was pretty cute.

"I'm Gabriella Montez." She said, interrupting his thoughts.

"I'm Troy Bolton. It's nice meeting you." He stuck his hand out awkwardly.

"Troy," she said, as if testing his name on her lips. She gave him an absent look and suddenly smiled again. She reached for his hand slowly, as if afraid to touch him. Before their hands made contact, a boy reached up and snatched Gabriella's hand away with a quick jerk. Troy appeared startled as he looked at the boy who'd interrupted so rudely, whereas Gabriella didn't appear fazed at all. She calmly took the stranger's hand in hers and whispered something into his ear. Troy blinked as her lips moved with inhuman speed, her choice words not reaching Troy's ears.

The strange boy kept his eyes locked on Troy the entire time, only looking away when Gabriella released his hand. Troy noticed both their right hands contained some sort of ring that held a beautifully designed black rose, entwined in silver vine-like thorns. Before he knew it, they were both walking away, the boy's hand on her back, as if he were guiding her. Gabriella's crimson eyes met Troy's one last time before disappearing around the corner.

"Bye, Troy." She called softly.

* * *

Infuriated, Gabriella grabbed her brother's arm roughly and made him follow her outside, into the courtyard. He hissed in protest but quickly stopped when she dug her fingers into his arm. She soon noticed her fingers were grasping air and uttered a silent curse.

"Ian, get out here." She hissed.

Hearing him chuckle behind her, she whipped around and watched as he flitted around the courtyard carelessly.

"What's wrong, sis? Did I ruin your fun?" Ian asked, an amused look plastered on his face as he ended up directly in front of Gabriella once more.

"Knock it off. What the hell was that?" She demanded impatiently.

"What was what?" He asked, putting on his best innocent act. Gabriella hissed and let her fangs slide down, warning him that she was soon going to lose her patience and that he was going to lose his head. He put up his hands in mock surrender.

"Whoa, little kitty, put the fangs away. I have a good reason why I did that." Ian waited until his sister's fangs slid back into place before starting his explanation. She watched closely as he let out an exasperated sigh.

"You know what mom said. We can't get too close to these…humans." She noticed he struggled with the last word, as if saying it were a challenge. He looked at her and shook his head sadly. "We have to stay away, Gabs."

"Why are you so riled, Ian? I was simply introducing myself to him. I wasn't asking him on a date!" She threw her hands up and let them fall back down to her sides limply.

"I know, Gabs. However, you know we can't be too careful. Let's not have a repeat of what happened in Montreal—," Ian was cut off as Gabriella grabbed his neck and slammed him into a nearby wall. Her eyes flashed dangerously as she tightened her grip.

"I told you to never bring that up again." Ian laughed wildly and looked his sister in the eye.

"What are you going to do? Kill me? Be sensible, dear sister. Gather your wit." Gabriella snarled, her crimson eyes turning to a menacing shade of cardinal. The amber in her irises blazed as her pupils began turning into slits. She hissed before throwing him down on the ground, allowing herself to regain control of her anger. A minute passed before she was able to think clearly. Surveying the damage she caused, she shook her head at her mindless behavior; the wall was caved in to where Ian's body had been thrown against it. The impact caused the brick to crumble, leaving a small crater in the wall.

Sighing inwardly, she made a mental note to have that fixed before anyone noticed. Looking towards her brother, she moved over towards his body and in one swift motion had him back on his feet. His face was deathly pale and Gabriella noticed that breathing was becoming somewhat of a challenge for him.

"Have you fed this morning?" She asked, speaking low so only he could hear. They were alone in the courtyard but her instincts took over. Ian shook his head slowly, his eyes reflecting his hunger. "We'll talk about this later then."

_Why did you wait so long?_ She thought to him as they made their way through the school as quickly as "humanly" possible.

_I don't know,_ he mentally sighed. The halls were crowded and noisy. A group of girls glanced in their direction and one gaped.

"Are they new here?"

"Oh my God, who are they?"

"Are they together?"

Gabriella held back a grin at the questions that were asked left and right. Stares and shy glances were cast in their direction as they made their way to the front of the school.

_Cat, it isn't polite to listen to other people's conversations,_ she heard Ian think dryly. Even mentally, his voice was weak. Ian usually called her 'Cat' in a way to tease her, but the name stuck after awhile.

Gabriella figured the name defined her personality; a silent, strong, independent vampire.

* * *

Sharpay and Ryan stood by Sharpay's locker, watching the strange new 'couple' make their way outside.

"Where could they be going? School just started." Sharpay said, mostly to herself. Ryan glanced at his sister, instantly recognizing the thoughtful expression plastered on her face.

"Shar, don't." Ryan said. She looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. The sly grin that tugged at the corners of her lips told him that she wasn't listening.

"Oh, come on, Ry," Sharpay pouted, picking lint off of his shirt and patting his shoulder. "We could use some excitement in this hick town." She began walking, towards the double doors of the school entrance.

"But are you seriously going to just spy?" He jogged to catch up to her before grabbing her arm to stop her.

"Why, of course. I mean, why the hell not?" She let out a small laugh that sounded more like a scoff that made her hair bounce over her shoulder. "Look Ry, if you don't want to go…" She trailed off, somewhat hoping he'd object. When he didn't, she rolled her eyes and stalked off. Walking down the steps, she scanned the school yard for the pair but was only greeted by the sight of endless rows of grass.

"They couldn't have left that quickly." Sharpay mused. She scanned the yard one last time and uttered a small sigh.

"Having fun spying, Shar?" A voice whispered in her ear suddenly, startling her. Sharpay spun around and nearly tumbled down the rest of the steps before grabbing the rail to balance herself. Her legs felt like twigs as she tried to calm down.

Ryan gave her a look of concerned and grabbed her arms, trying to help her. She shoved him away. "What is with you? I could've snapped my neck!" She screeched angrily, feeling her heartbeat slow down just a fraction. He rolled his eyes and shook his head, taking a deep breath before looking his sister in the eye.

"That's why you shouldn't snoop around all the time, Shar. Besides, what have they got to hide? They're new here; hardly anyone will pay attention to them."

Sharpay wasn't so sure.

* * *

Gabriella leaned against the bark of an old oak tree, waiting for her brother to finish feeding. Birds chirped happily overhead, their songs echoing inside of her head.

_At least they have a chance at happiness, if not I._

She sensed a presence nearby and shot a glance towards her right. Ian was silently approaching, his chin dark red and dripping. She felt herself smile a little.

"Are you always such the messy eater?" She took a few strides and stood in front of him, trailing her finger across his chin. A drop of blood hung onto her finger tip and she hungrily sucked on her finger till none remained.

He didn't seem to notice that the blood was there before and quickly wiped it off with his arm. Walking past her, he settled next to the tree Gabriella had been standing by only seconds before. Puzzled, she stared at him, trying to read his thoughts. She drew a blank. He was shielding his mind away from her, not letting her enter willingly. Gabriella looked away, feeling her head throb violently from the strain.

"When will these urges stop?" He asked softly.

Gabriella's head snapped up in his direction once more and gave him a look of pity. She didn't have an answer for him. She didn't think she ever would. She felt a tug inside of herat the sight of him. He seemed so hopeless, vulnerable even. Gabriella looked away, not being able to look him in the eye.

"Why did you do this to me?" Ian urged, not noticing his previous question went unanswered. Her eyes widened slightly and forced herself to look at him. Though his misty gray-blue eyes were glazed over, she could tell he was waiting for an answer.

"Please, Ian. Don't." She sighed, leaning back. _Not now_, she thought silently to herself. She didn't want to have this conversation, she refused.

"No, I want to know why, Gabriella." He was losing his temper. "Do you know how hard it is to fit in with these humans without hurting them? Do you realize how easy it is for someone to expose us? Why the hell would you make me go through this?" By now, he hadn't bothered to keep his voice at an even level. It echoed off the trees, into the dense forest.

"You know why I did it, Ian. Did you really want to die?" Her voice, in contrast, was calm and steady. He shook his head, turning away from me. She lowered her eyes and stared at the ground. "That night would've been your last night. But I saved you. I _saved _you, Ian. If I had any other choice, I would have went with it—," She trailed off at the sound of leaves rustling and wood cracking. She looked up to see that Ian was punching a tree.

A single tear ran down his pale cheek. "It isn't fair." He whispered, mostly to himself. "Mother called me her special boy. I was the only one who wasn't affected by the vampire blood coursing through my veins." He looked in her direction, his eyes wild. During his reminisce, he settled down on the ground, his legs having given out on him. Gabriella gathered enough courage to kneel down beside him. He continued. "I was the only one who could live a normal life. I didn't have to worry about snapping someone's wrist just by grabbing them. I didn't have to worry about thirst. I didn't have to worry about the Nightworld and the clan."

All the while she simply held him while he ranted. Of course, Gabriella wished she could take back what she gave him. Because of her, the vampire blood within him awoke. Everything in his life ended, the very same day she saved him, he was reborn into his inner self.

People consider them monsters, the freaks of nature. Hollywood portrays the members of the Nightworld as blood thirsty demons, who only feed to kill. Who sleep in coffins during the day and walk the night. At least they have one thing right; vampires do need blood to survive, but are only take it in small amounts. Without it, they would suffocate and die. One of the main rules of the Nightworld is to never kill a human host. The one that was next in line was to never fall in love with a human. The consequences of any member of the Nightworld getting discovered by the humans resulted in automatic death to the human and the deceiver. Gabriella vowed to make sure that didn't happen to her or to her family; she owed them that much. She knew deep inside how hard it was for Ian to be the monster he tried so hard not to be for so long. If only she could take it back and still be able to have him there with her.

Gabriella noticed after a few minutes that he was silent and looked over at him only to find him staring at her, now fully conscious of his surroundings once more. She opened her mouth to apologize but he held up a hand and silenced her.

"We should get back." Dropping her hands to her side, she stood. Not daring to look over at her brother, she inhaled the chilly air.

_I couldn't help you without hurting you_, she thought softly. _I promise I won't let you get hurt by me or anybody else._

Ian looked over at her and nodded solemnly and the both took off towards the school.

* * *

**A/N: **Okay so I decided to give this story a complete do-over because it was completely horrible when I reread it two years after making it. I have to say, I am actually satisfied with this remake. I hope you guys are too and I sincerely hope I get reviews on this story! I really have a lot of ideas and I have a feeling it will turn out great so if you guys don't mind, please feel free to leave a review.


	2. Fair Warning

**Blood Lust © thatsvintage**

**Disclaimer: **I **do not** own High School Musical or the Night World Series. Original characters **do not** belong to me and all credit goes towards their rightful owners.

**Full Synopsis: **The Night World is a secret society that lives among the human race; it is full of vampires, witches, shape shifters, and werewolves that walk belong side us each and every day. Troy Bolton's world is soon turned upside down when he meets the new 'cats' in school. They're mysterious, deadly, and have a taste for blood.

This fanfic is Rated **M** for violence, strong language, and sexual content.

* * *

**Chapter Two**

**Fair Warning**

Troy felt his legs nearly give out as he ran across the court, towards the opposing team's goal. He aimed for the basket regardless and shot.

_Swish._

The sound of the ball going cleanly through the basket made him feel ecstatic as he ran to retrieve the ball before it bounced off the court. Sweat trickled from his forehead and down to his chin. His brown hair remained matted down to his forehead as he heard the whistle blow, signaling that practice was over. He felt a hard slap on the back and glanced up to meet Coach Bolton's stern gaze. He met his father's stare evenly, secretly hoping another one of his lectures weren't about to come. Instead, his father smiled and gave him another firm slap on the back.

"Good work out there, son." He said as he began walking off, clipboard in hand. He quickly turned and pointed his finger in Troy's direction. "But hey, remember what I told you. Fake left, go for the right."

Troy managed to smile and nod a bit as his father lamely pumped his fist into the air. "You're going to do great, Troy. I know you are. Just a few more practice sessions and we will beat those Eagles to the ground. Okay, everybody else, hit the showers and then you're all released to your fifth period." With that said, Coach Bolton disappeared into his office.

Chad and their teammate, Zeke Baylor, made their way over to Troy's side as he took a swig of water. "Hey, you see that new kid over there? I think he's been watching us the entire time during practice." Chad whispered, glancing over his shoulder towards the gym bleachers.

"I think so too." Zeke agreed hastily, casting a quick glance over in the guy's direction. "Excuse me if I sound rude but that guy just looks like bad news." Chad nodded his head in agreement and began walking with Zeke toward the locker room.

Troy cleared his throat and shrugged. "Um, I'll be right back." He said, mostly to himself as he walked away from his two friends to join the strange guy sitting on the bleachers. Chad and Zeke exchanged weird looks before heading to the locker room. They both looked back at Troy, wondering what the hell he was doing.

Troy suddenly felt a chill go up and down his spine as he got closer to the strange boy. Something wasn't right about him that was for sure. He was oddly pale and his eyes seemed to gleam evilly in the light. From where Troy was, he could see the boy's muscles tense as he got closer. He noticed that the boy staring at him hard, as if he was trying to figure him out. Troy stood in front of the bleachers and faced the boy who was sitting a few rows up. The two stayed that way for what seemed like forever to Troy until the boy spoke up in a surprisingly mellow tone.

"You're Troy Bolton, right?" The guy asked his lips turned up into a slight smirk. Troy guessed it was the boy's attempt at being friendly, seeing as though their morning confrontation didn't go too well. He couldn't manage anything else more than a pathetic nod as the boy eyed him up and down slowly. Troy opened his mouth to speak but the boy cut him off.

"I wanted to apologize for earlier, I just get really protective of my sister, you know?" The boy didn't wait for an answer as he continued. "It's a new school, a new town. I've been a little on edge lately. It's not like the people here are any different than the people I've already met but it's a thing of mine. I keep an eye out for people who seem…out of the ordinary." He stared directly at Troy as he spoke, their eyes never losing contact. Troy cleared his throat before speaking.

"It's not a problem; I know exactly what you mean. Nothing really happens here, to be honest. It's a pretty quiet place to live in. The people are somewhat friendly and usually everyone is in a good mood." Troy heard the boy chuckle slightly and watched as he shook his head slowly.

"So it's one of those boring places, huh?"

"Yea, pretty much."

The two shared a laugh, which broke the ice for Troy. He sat on the bleacher, two rows down from where the other guy sat.

"Hey, so what's your name?" Troy asked, getting into a comfortable position on his seat. The other boy opened his mouth to answer, but stopped suddenly and shot a glance up toward the other side of the gym. Troy frowned and followed his gaze and felt his heart skip a beat. There stood Claire, glaring at him from across the court.

_Oh shit, I was supposed to have met her thirty minutes _ago. Troy thought sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck while getting up to meet his girlfriend. Stomping over to her negligent boyfriend, Claire folded her arms and scowled as she waited for an explanation on why he stood her up for the second day in a row.

"Look, I meant to tell you that practice was going to run late—," Troy started but stopped when Claire raised a hand to silence him.

"Troy, you need to know how to manage your time better. I got us tickets to see a movie that starts in fifteen minutes. You think you can be ready in five?" She asked, shoving the tickets into his hands. Glancing at the tickets, he nodded before running off towards the locker room.

Shaking her head, Claire glanced over at the bleachers to see the guy Troy had been talking to was gone. Looking around the gym for the boy's retreating form, she felt a chill go up her spine as she didn't catch sight of him again.

_I don't remember seeing him get up, _she thought to herself. Hearing the gym doors creak open, she looked over and noticed a girl with medium-length pale, blonde hair walking around the gym aimlessly. She appeared to be lost.

"Hey, do you need help finding a class or something?" She called out to her and watched as the girl's eyes snapped in her direction. The girl seemed to hesitate before shaking her head. Claire shifted on her feet and glanced down at her watch.

_Come on, Troy. Hurry up._

Claire grew impatient as she watched the seconds tick by.

_Tick. Tick. Tick. Ti—_

Looking back up, she was startled when she found the girl was five feet away, staring at her with an unreadable expression. Claire's eyes widened slightly at the girl's sudden appearance in front of her. The girl's daunting sage eyes bore into her and Claire found herself becoming uncomfortable rather quickly.

Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she cleared her throat. "Is there something you want?" She surprised herself when her voice came out shaky and unsettled. Claire swallowed and pursed her lips.

"You're going to be dead soon." The girl said softly. Her gray eyes widened as her lips turned up into a sinister smile. "Dead. Like the others. Soon enough." The girl was speaking backwards, neither starting nor finishing her sentences.

Claire felt a chill go up her spine and she found herself taking a step back. "Wha—," Claire stopped short when she heard the door of the boy's locker room opening and banging loudly against the brick wall of the gymnasium. Whirling around, she saw Troy jogging his way over to her while slinging his workout bag over his shoulder.

"Troy!" Claire said, running up to meet him halfway.

Troy smirked. "I was only gone for a few minutes like you asked." His smile disappeared as he studied her face. "What's wrong?" He asked, raising his hand up to touch her pale cheek.

"That girl. I—I think she just threatened me!" She exclaimed, pointing behind her.

Troy looked puzzled. "A girl? Babe, there's nobody else in here." He said slowly while staring hard at her.

"What do you mean?" Claire turned to look for the strange girl and felt goose bumps rise on the back of her neck when she realized the girl was gone. "She was right here." She whispered, shaking her head disbelievingly.

"I came out and you were alone. There was nobody there. Maybe you're a little stressed out. I should probably just take you home. Forget about the mov—," Troy stopped midsentence when he noticed the tears welling up in Claire's eyes.

Balling her hands into fists, she stood there stubbornly.

"You don't believe me." She stated coldly, staring at him accusingly. "I'm not making things up. She was here!" The tears that welled in her eyes began to fall. Claire angrily swiped them away with a quick hand.

"I didn't say—," Troy started but stopped when he figured there would be no use in talking to her now. Not when he already did the damage of making her upset. Claire stood there, trembling as she looked around the gym once more, not daring to move from where she stood. Grabbing her hand, Troy waited for her to meet his gaze. When she finally did, he bent his head and pressed his lips against hers as a way of apologizing.

The kiss was brief and sweet and Troy quickly broke it before it became anything more. Looking her in the eye again, he said quietly, "The girl—whoever she was—was probably playing a prank on you." He said, a smile playing on his lips.

Calmed, Claire smirked. "She did look like one of those creepy Goth girls." She said, laughing a little. "You know, I didn't even realize people like that still existed." She scoffed, feeling somewhat better after convincing herself that's all it was. She shook her head at her own cowardice.

"I'm sorry I overreacted." She said sweetly, taking his hand and leading him out of the gym towards the cafeteria. "Forget the movie. I feel like eating with the Period B lunch today."

* * *

The marble white floor shone brightly in contrast to the red walls of East High's cafeteria as Troy and Claire made their way in, hand in hand. Period B lunch for some reason was much longer than Period A and a lot more people decided to do it instead of the latter. Troy scanned the brightly lit room in search for his friends and spotted the familiar, messy afro of his friend. Leading Claire to the table, he pulled out a chair for her before taking his seat beside Jason.

"Zeke, man, let me tell you the delicate beauty I saw during Darbus' class today!" Jason exclaimed whilst hungrily stuffing four french-fries in his mouth at once. Troy looked over towards Jason. Was this 'beauty' he was referring to, Gabriella? Zeke looked over, urging his friend to go on.

"Don't you see a new beauty everyday, Jason?" Claire asked snootily, cutting Jason off before he was able to go on. Her voice dripped with venom as she glared across the table at him. Shrugging, Jason simply smirked at the subtle put-down.

"This one definitely had a sort of _je ne sais quoi_ aura about her. I've got to admit, wherever she's from, they make them good." He smirked while his eyes twinkled mischievously. Troy tuned Jason out as he went into explicit details on what he would do if he and Gabriella were alone.

He felt sick to his stomach for some reason. The fact Jason was talking about Gabriella as if she were a piece of meat was making him feel weird. Almost a little bit angry. He felt his fists clench together tightly as he found himself beginning to shake with what felt like rage.

Claire touched his arm, watching the emotions play across his face. "Are you okay, babe?"

Snapped out of his daze, he looked over at her as if forgetting she was even there in the first place. Troy grunted in response and began scanning the cafeteria. He felt his breath catch in his throat as his eyes landed on her. Claire followed his gaze and frowned slightly.

There stood Gabriella, her eyes wandering around the cafeteria as if intrigued by her surroundings. Her beautifully colored eyes seemed to gleam in the florescent lights as she caught sight of Troy and his friends. Her eyes locked onto Claire at first and then slowly shifted over to Troy. She felt her heart begin to beat quickly and her cheeks became flushed and heated. He looked so beautiful; his eyes were blue like the purest of sapphires.

_What are you thinking, Gabriella? Snap out of it!_ She mentally scolded herself. Returning her gaze back onto the girl sitting beside him, she found herself amused at the glare being sent her way.

_Yea, snap out of it._ Ian's voice invaded her thoughts causing her to jump slightly at being exposed. She hadn't been expecting him to be listening in the entire time. Sending a quick glare over in his direction, she picked up her tray and sat at a table that was uninhabited. Ian followed her, eyeing her wearily as he sat down. He gave the food a look of disgust before pushing the tray away entirely.

"I never thought I'd be pushing away _real_ food." He said, putting emphasis on the word while looking up at Gabriella who sighed inwardly.

"It was foolish of you to even spend a cent of your money on that stuff when you're already full, Ian." Gabriella said in a harsh whisper. She eyed the mystery meat on her tray and scrunched up her nose. The food smelled as if it had been made with all of the oils and greases in the world. How revolting. Mimicking her brother, she pushed her tray off to the side as well and settled for the banana that was lying next it.

On the other side of the cafeteria, Claire watched as Troy continued to stare at that girl. She found herself feeling a bit jealous. Digging her fingers somewhat forcefully into his arm, she waited for him to look at her. When he did, she set her expression into a hard scowl.

"How come you never look at me like that?" She whispered, not wanting their friends to hear. Troy looked at her incredulously.

"Like what?" He asked, dumbfounded.

"Get off it, Troy." She said rather harshly. "You were practically drooling just a second ago." Claire stared at him hard, waiting for him to say something.

"I—," _I was?_ He thought, surprised. _I couldn't have been. I hardly know her. _Looking back over, he saw the guy he encountered in the gym earlier that day watching him very closely. His expression was unreadable and perhaps that was a good thing. Troy wasn't all too sure about him yet.

"Troy, bro, we're gonna get going." Chad said, oblivious to the tension among the couple. "We forgot we needed to talk to coach about the upcoming game next Friday."

"Alright, see you guys later." Troy said, forcing a smile. Claire's hold on his arm never loosened as their table cleared. She waited for everyone to leave before she spoke up again.

"Do you have something you need to tell me?" She asked, her hazel eyes glimmered as they began to well with tears.

"What? No! What are you even thinking, Claire?" Troy exclaimed. "I don't know her. I haven't even spoken to her yet." Okay, sure. That part was a bit of a lie but it also held some truth. Troy _didn't_ know her. He only knew her name yet that didn't seem like enough when it came to her.

Unconvinced, she pressed on. "It's just…you know. If I haven't been doing my part lately—," She trailed off, blushing at the hidden meaning behind her statement. Troy stared at her questioningly before finally understanding. He shook his head and chuckled slightly. Rubbing the back of his head awkwardly with his free arm, he looked at her shyly.

"You're fine. _We're_ fine. Okay? Don't worry yourself over it. There's nothing that's going to make me feel different about you." He said, smiling. That seemed to convince her because she frivolously wiped her tears away and smiled. Entwining their fingers together, she leaned down and kissed his hand softly.

Gabriella and Ian shared a look amongst each other and began staring in Troy's direction once again. Her long dark waves rested on her back and a delicate hand rested underneath her chin as she found herself grinning at the scene taking place. It was quite hilarious if anyone were to ask her. She hadn't known Troy long, or at all for that matter and she could already see that he felt trapped in his relationship. The humor behind it was quite sick and dark. Vampires had a sort of twisted sense of humor, courtesy of their twisted ways of living.

"Typical." Ian scoffed. "Humans are so clingy nowadays."

Gabriella giggled softly, shaking her head. Taking her brother's hand in hers, she gave it a gentle squeeze before standing.

_Ian._ She called to him as she made her way out the door.

_Yes? _He responded while dumping their food out and following behind her.

_I want to learn more about him_. _I know it isn't sensible or safe but it wouldn't hurt, you know?_ Gabriella felt her brother's disapproval reverberating off of his person.

_You always were the one to let your interests get ahead of your way of thinking logically_. Ian stated; his tone of disgust apparent.

Gabriella shook her head as she and Ian parted ways, their afternoon classes begging to be graced with their presences.

* * *

Later that night, Troy found himself thinking of the day's events. The whole day seemed to be a mere blur, an unneeded memory. The only thing he could think about much less even remember was meeting Gabriella. Troy put his arms behind his head while leaning back in his chair, his light brown hair falling over his eyes.

It was strange. He hardly knew the girl yet he couldn't get her out of his head. Twisting around in his chair, he picked up the plush basketball that lie beside his laptop and began to toss it into the air and catching it with ease. Troy heard his Blackberry vibrating on his nightstand. Standing and making his way over to his bed, he glanced over on the screen and saw that he had a new text message from Claire.

_R u coming tonight? _Her text read. Troy pondered for a moment before replying.

_Something came up. I'll make it up to u._

He watched as the message sent, knowing that Claire would be asking questions tomorrow. Turning off his phone, he tossed it on the side of his bed before laying down on his back.

_I want to learn more about her,_ he thought silently as lay there, shutting his eyes. _I hope I can._

* * *

There was nothing on television that night and Gabriella was getting frustrated. Slamming the remote against the wall, she walked into the kitchen to where Celeste Montez was working. With her back to her, Gabriella smiled and tip toed over to her mother as quietly as she could.

"Knock it off, Gabby." Celeste said sternly, without turning around. Gabriella felt herself begin to pout and walked the rest of the way over to where she was seated. These days, her mother was always busy with work since her job consisted of event planning and marketing. With all the moving they had to do to conceal their secret, it's been pretty tough to handle. She gave her mother a soft peck on the cheek and sat beside her at the table. Her fingers moved rapidly across the keyboard, her focus was completely devoted to the screen. Gabriella nervously began chewing on her bottom lip, tapping her finger awkwardly on the marble counter as her mother continued to work.

"You're thinking about something." Celeste stated, her eyes never leaving the screen. "Care to share?"

Gabriella opened her mouth slightly then proceeded to squeeze her lips shut once more. How hard could it have possibly been to ask her mother a simple question? It wasn't as if she were breaking the code of law designed by her mother for asking.

"Mom, I know it's been awhile but could you possibly tell me more about you and dad?"

The tapping of the keys came to an abrupt halt as Celeste finally looked up from her computer. The room's silence was unbearably loud and Gabriella soon began shifting in her seat uncomfortably. Celeste stared at her daughter, a mixture of disbelief and sadness plastered onto her beautifully structured face. Gabriella began biting her lip once more, knowing that she shouldn't have been so blunt.

"What exactly do you want to know, Gabriella?" Celeste replied weakly.

"I want to know everything. How the two of you met and what it felt like when you two fell in love—,"

"Your father was a human. If I could have loved someone else, I would have." Her mother whispered, looking down at her fingers absentmindedly.

"Mom, how could you say that? I remember when I was a little girl, how you two would look at each other. You loved him just as much as he loved you. How could you act as if that were some kind of mistake?" Gabriella argued, frowning.

"You know nothing."

"I do."

"No, you do not."

"You have to have loved him, Mom! Think of the Soul Mate Principle—,"

"Enough!" Celeste bellowed as she suddenly lost her temper, her hands slamming down on the dense marble countertop. Gabriella cowered in her chair as her mother's sanguineous eyes stared her down, daring her to retort.

"You know good and well we are _never_ to speak of that. The Soul Mate Principle does not exist; you and your brother both know this. If the Council were to ever find out that I fell in love with mortal, we would all be done for. Do you understand me?" Celeste's eyes burned into Gabriella's identical ones as she said this. Gabriella actually felt herself flinch at her mother's words. She felt herself nod weakly despite herself.

"Good." Her mother slowly regained her posture, the fire in her eyes slowly dying down to a mere flame. Suddenly, Celeste seemed to look very tired and worn out and the fine lady sighed greatly before walking to the other side of the kitchen to where the refrigerator stood. "Do you need anything from over here, sweetie?"

Gabriella glanced over in her mother's direction from the table and shook her head quickly before disappearing from her seat in the blink of an eye. She appeared next to her mother a split second later and grabbed at a small tube full of dark liquid. "This is all I'll need," she simply said before she disappeared for the second time that night, but this time to the privacy of her room.

Well, she couldn't exactly call it _her_ room yet. There was still a lot of decorating to be done and she still hadn't even gotten most of her clothes hung in her closet yet. The walls were bare and naked and the room had a sort of eerie feeling about it. Although, the balcony seemed to balance the room out somehow; the decorative, antique railing and vines that seemed to grow over it gave it a very sophisticated look. Gabriella felt a smile tug at the corners of her lips, despite her mood. Walking onto the balcony, she realized with a twinge of pleasure that she could see the pond from where she stood. The fine waves seemed to ripple carelessly through the water, reflecting the moonlight in Gabriella's direction.

She could hear the crickets chirping happily and dragonflies buzzing lazily through the air. Closing her eyes, she envisioned herself flying through the sky, without a care in the world. No worries about the Night World, no worries about the Council. No, it was merely her in her own world. But then, she started to think of her father and that's when she crashed back down to earth.

There wasn't much to remember him by, not that Gabriella truly wanted to remember a thing about him anyway. The thought of him disappearing without a trace as soon as she and her brother turned five marveled her even today. Maybe it was the fact that her mother finally told him the real deal about her family and why they had to keep their business a secret or maybe, perhaps, it was the fact that he couldn't deal with two kids and the stress finally got to him. Either way, the guy was a coward. It was quite bemusing really, how much he'd learn from her mother while he stayed there, doing nothing that could be of any benefit to his own flesh and blood. Over the years, he learned how to shield his mind and block all thoughts. Soon, he was so good at it, Gabriella wasn't even able to detect the slightest bit of detest he had for the two of them until she came home and saw that all of his things were gone.

_The empty house echoed with creaks and groans as little Gabriella sat there, alone, on the floor. Her eyes were full of questions whilst her face was full of fear. Her bottom lip trembled slightly as the unfamiliar feeling of dread swept over her. She ran around the house, screaming for a man who was no longer there._

"_Daddy? Daddy, where _are _you? Please come out now." Her screams and shouts were only greeted by the howling of the storm that seemed to surround the house. Tears pour down her face as Gabriella ran through the house, kicking open—and knocking down—most of the doors in a wild search for her father. She walked into her parent's room and glanced around in horror as she observed that practically everything in the room was either destroyed or missing. Portraits lay in ruins on the floor; her mother's jewelry had been pulled apart and stepped on. The bed's covering had been torn away from the mattress and thrown to a heap on the floor. Running to the closet, Gabriella peeked into the bathroom to find that all of her father's "human" supplies were gone. Arriving to the closet, she needed not to turn on the lights; her keen vision allowed her to see everything as it was._

_No clothes, no business suits of any kind. Not even his favorite robe was hanging in its designated spot anymore. All of her dad's clothes were gone, along with his shoes. Dropping to her knees, Gabriella's entire body began to shake violently as she let out loud, heart-wrenching sobs. This couldn't be happening, not now. Even for a vampire her age, she knew exactly what was going on. Her father whom she had grown to love so very much had abandoned her. What had gone wrong? Everything had been perfect, or so it seemed. _

_Just then, her vision filled over in red and everything became a blur of tears and fury as Gabriella went berserk. She clawed at the walls, tore down railings in the closet and bathroom. She tore the folding closet door right off its hinges and threw it to the side like a piece of crumbled paper, watching it collide with a nearby wall with a loud smack. She stomped over to the dresser and caught sight of the one picture her father hadn't bothered to touch; the one of him and her mother together on their wedding day. Seeing it made her even angrier as she picked up the picture frame and squeezed until the silver frame bent all the way in. Glass cracked and shattered onto her fingers, her hands, her wrists and her forearms. The shards cut deep into her flesh but the pain was mesmerizing as she continued her rampage around the rest of the house. The only person who silenced her an hour later hadn't been her mother, it had been her brother._

_Ian's eyes revealed frightened tears as he grabbed hold of his sister and held her tight to him, refusing to let go even as she proceeded to bite and scratch him ferociously until her little limbs suddenly gave out and she went limp in his arms._

The scars from her senseless attack were still embedded in her brother's skin. They were small and nearly invisible to the naked eye but Gabriella knew they would never truly disappear. That dreadful day happened thirteen years ago and even now, it was hard for Gabriella to understand what had made her retaliate in such a manner. Without realizing it, Gabriella was supporting her weight on the banister, resting her head on top of her arms gently as a stream of tears made their way down her cheeks.

Had she cried like this recently? Gabriella couldn't remember. All of the painful memories were pushed to the back of her head and she tried as hard as she could to forget them. They didn't matter now; they weren't a part of her life anymore. The sounds of the pond had died down to a smooth, gentle hum. Wiping her nose with her sleeve, Gabriella rose and gathered herself before speaking.

"What do you want, Ian?" She turned and walked over to where her brother lay.

Ian gazed up at her lazily and shrugged. "I've just been thinking a lot since this afternoon." He said simply, sitting up to face his sister evenly. "And—," he paused for a second, looking past her and out the window. "I'm sorry for blowing up at you like that back in the woods."

Gabriella sat down beside her brother and gave him a halfhearted smile. "It was no big deal, really. I mean, you had a point and you were right. You should've had a choice on whether or not you wanted to be a full blooded vampire or not. I wish I could tell you how sorry I am, but words can't describe how strongly I really feel about it. Honestly, I never meant to hurt you like this. God, if I could take it back—I would, you know that, don't you?"

Her question hung in the air heavily, going unanswered for a long time. Finally, her brother spoke up.

"Yes, I do and I don't blame you. If anything, I definitely would've chosen this life over no life at all. Just know that I'm not going to be angry at you for this anymore. I should learn how to get used to my new body and you're going to have to help me." His famous mischievous smirk made its way onto his face as he looked over in Gabriella's direction with cool, gray eyes. Gabriella felt a smirk of her own sneak its way onto her lips and she nudged her brother with her shoulder playfully.

"Think you can beat me?" She asked, jumping off of the bed and disappearing out of the room.

Ian's face revealed his surprise as he followed her into an empty room of their three-story mansion. The room was about the size of a small ballroom, completely illuminated by the moonlight the skylight window let in. The pale walls reflected the light, making both Gabriella and Ian's eyes shine brightly. All vampires developed a tell-tale light reflecting surface behind their retinas called tapetum lucidum, which basically had their eyes reflecting light like a cat's would. It was both helpful and dangerous.

Grinning, Gabriella flit to the other side of the room and grabbed two Japanese oak fighting sticks off of the wall and tossed one to Ian who caught it with ease.

Gabriella's weapon of choice didn't go unnoticed as Ian speculated over them.

_Japanese oak_, he noted, never taking his eyes off of her as he gave it a few test swings. _Heavy, well-seasoned, resilient_.

Good choice.

He also took note that the fire-hardened end of the stick was very pointy. However, knowing his sister, he knew she wouldn't try using that when the match first starts out. Before anything, she would try disarming him. The simplest way to do it, as both he and she knew, was to break the wrist of his dominant hand. After that, she would go for critical points and nerve centers. She took their practicing sessions very seriously.

"I hope you've been practicing, little brother. I'm not holding back tonight." Her eyes glint dangerously as she began circling her brother as if he were her prey, closing in for the kill.

"I have, dear sister." His grin was almost taunting as he stood casually watching as she continued to circle around him. A minute change in his posture alerted Gabriella and she halted for a split second before they were both moving at light speed.

Ian swung his stick up and down and a perfect arc, aiming for her right wrist. Gabriella blocked easily with her own stick and felt the shock as the wooden sticks clashed together. Instantly changing her grip, she tried for a trap, but he whipped his stick out of the way and was facing her again as if he'd never moved in the first place.

Gabriella giggled.

"You're so predictable, Ian," she told him. "I could fight you with my eyes closed." Side stepping out of his reach, she tried to sweep his legs out from underneath him.

Blocking her move easily, he tried for a trap. "Oh, really? Well, you hit like a four-year-old. You couldn't take me down if I stood here and let you."

They circled each other warily.

The snakewood stick felt warm in Gabriella's hands. It was amusing how the most humble and lowly of human weapons was the most dangerous to vampires.

But alas, it was also the most versatile weapon in the entire world. With a stick, unlike a knife or a gun or sword, you could tune the degree of pain you inflicted upon your opponent. Disarming and controlling attackers came with ease, and—if circumstances called for it—you could inflict pain without permanently injuring someone.

Of course if they were vampires, you could also _kill _them, which you couldn't do with an ordinary knife or makeshift gun. Only wood has been known to be able to stop the vampire heart for over five-hundred centuries, which was why the fighting stick was a weapon of choice when two vampires genuinely wanted to hurt each other…and also for vampire hunters.

Ian grinned at Gabriella, knowing it was not a particularly nice smile.

Her feet whispered across the nicely polished oak boards of the floor as she began circling her brother again.

"Next you're going to go for a head strike," she informed him coolly. "Because that's what you always do."

"You think you know everything, don't you? I've changed my tactics," he told her, just as calmly—and went for a head strike.

"Psyche," he said as she blocked it and the wood clashed again with a sharp _whack_.

"Wrong." Gabriella twisted her stick cleanly, got leverage on his, and whipped it down, holding it against his upper thighs. "Trap." She informed him, grinning.

Ian was taken aback for a moment before slipping out of her trap with ease.

Backing up, Ian wasn't prepared for her sudden attack strategy, striking at his throat and then sending one to his temple. He blocked and evaded—which is what she wanted. Evasion. Retreat. She would soon have him crowded into a corner.

Ian countered viciously, but his attempts were outwitted. Gabriella blocked with a whirlwind of strikes of her own, pressing him, until he finally had his back into a corner.

"I've got you," she said as she flashed out a couple of quick attacks to keep him occupied.

His icy gray eyes flashed with fury and then went cold. "Unless I do something unexpected," he said.

"Nothing you do is unexpected," she said sweetly.

But her mind was telling her that provoking him had been a mistake. She had hit some nerve, and he was stronger than he'd been a few months ago when they spared like this. He didn't lose his temper under pressure the way he used to. He just got more determined and headstrong.

_Move in hard_, she thought, making sure to block her mind from her brother. _All out. Go for a pressure point. Numb his arm—_

But before she could do anything, Ian suddenly reached out and grabbed the middle of her stick, forcefully. Looking at him in confusion, she tried to jerk back but to no avail.

"What are you doing?" She exclaimed.

Without answering, he simply lifted her and sent a flying kick to her midsection, the air in her lungs coming out in a harsh gasp as she was sent flying across the room. Her back crashed into the wall, her heart beat became irregular and the world around her became a dizzy blur as she tried to catch her breath.

Looking up at her brother, she smirked and got back up to her feet. "Good move, brother, I'll give you that. But if that's how you want to play, let's go."

By this time, Ian obviously had already moved away from his cornered position and was standing in the middle of the room, his stance giving away that he was soon going to feint and strike at her control points.

Gabriella disappeared from her spot and appeared behind her brother, taking her stick and putting it over his neck, putting pressure on his windpipe and promptly cutting off his air supply. He tried head butting her but stumbled backward as she was no longer there anymore. Looking ahead of him, he was startled to see her inches away from his face, as she sent a whirlwind of attacks his way. Hardly blocking any of her swift attacks, he hissed as the wood connected to his ribs. Before he could counter, she used her stick as a sort of pole to send a round kick right into his jaw.

"No fair, you're cheating!" He shrieked, rubbing his aching chin. Gabriella's expression darkened as she swung for him again and raised her stick to block a high blow he sent her way.

"Do you honestly…think _they_ will take… it easy on you?" She spoke as she attacked her blows swift and clean and she watched as her brother doubled over in pain. Leaning over, she kicked him with tremendous force, sending him flying to the other side of the room. By his side in a second, she pulled him too his feet and threw him his weapon.

"There are humans—and mind you other vampires—who want us dead. They won't stop. Ever. You need to learn how to anticipate and expect anything and everything that will come your way. No fight will ever be _fair_." She spat, planting her feet firmly on the ground as she waited for him to regain his posture. The bruise on the side of his face had already disappeared and the pained expression from before had been replaced by a hard, determined scowl.

Rushing at her, he drove upward to catch her stick from below. Then he twisted, sweeping her stick in a circle, forcing her off balance, trying to topple her backward. As Gabriella fought to recover, he struck her elbow. Hard.

_Wham!_

It was a different sound from the crisp _whack_ when wood hit wood. This was duller, softer, the sound of wood hitting flesh and bone.

Hearing her own involuntary cry of pain, she stumbled a bit as her fire shot up her arm, into her shoulder, and for a brief moment she lost the grip on the stick with her right hand. She forced her fingers to close on it again and cursed silently when they went numb. She couldn't feel what she was holding.

She couldn't block properly if one of her arms were useless.

And Ian was advancing, a deadly light gleaming in his eyes. He was merciless. His movements were more relaxed now as he knew exactly what he was doing.

Two more hits and he broke through her guard again. The oak slammed into her ribs and she felt another wave of pain as gray dots danced in front of her eyes.

Fractured? She sure hoped not. Unable to grip the weapon properly, she lamely held up the stick as he attacked again, this time aiming for her midsection. She dodged his attack and punched him as hard as she could with her uninjured arm and was pleased when his head snapped back, giving her a second or two to distance herself from him for recovery purposes.

It only took a moment for her to come up with a plan. And then Gabriella was carrying it out, every ounce of her concentration focused on tricking him.

She stopped backing up and took a sideways step, purposely putting herself in the position where she could only make a clumsy block. Then she gave him a clear opening, holding her stick awkwardly; the tip of the stick toward him but drooping too far down.

_You see—it's my elbow_, she thought to him, knowing he couldn't hear her but willing him to take the bait. _My elbow hurts too much; I'm distracted; the stick can no longer be considered an extension of me. My right side is unprotected and yielding. _

She was good at it as any mother bird that pretends to have a broken wing to lure predators away from her nest. She spotted the flash of triumph in Ian's eyes.

_That's it; don't waste time injuring me anymore…come in for the kill._

Taking a step back, he watched as Gabriella struggled to grip the stick properly, her eyes leaving him for a quick second to adjust the weight. He had since stopped trying to disarm her and was watching her intently, narrowing his eyes in concentration. He was trying to maneuver for a single decisive strike, a takedown to end the combat.

But as he raised his stick to make the move, Gabriella pulled her own stick back as if she were afraid to block him, afraid of the jarring contact. It was the moment of truth. If he caught on now, if he realized why she was positioning her stick this way, he would never make the move she wanted.

_I'm too hurt to block properly; my arm's too weak,_ she thought, letting her shoulders droop and her body sway in a tired motion. It wasn't too hard to pretend. The pain was real enough and if she let herself truly feel it, it was very nearly disabling.

Ian fell for her charade.

He made the strike she wanted; straight down. In that instant, Gabriella slid her leading foot back, shifting just out of range. His stick whistled by her nose—barely missing. And then, before he could raise it again, while he was unguarded, Gabriella lunged. She put all the power in her body behind it, all of her strength, slipping in between Ian's arms and driving the stick into his midsection.

The air in his lungs exploded out in a harsh gasp and he doubled over.

Gabriella didn't hesitate. She had to finish him now or he would be fully recovered within a second's time. By the time he was completely bent over she was already behind him and striking him behind the knee. Again, she put her whole weight into the flow, following through to scoop him onto his back.

Ian landed on the floor with a hard thud, grunting at the impact. Before he could move an inch, Gabriella snap-kicked hard, catching his wrist and knocking his stick away. It clattered across the floor, just out of reach. She then held the pointed end of her own stick to his throat.

"Yield or die," she said breathlessly, and smiled as she knew she won.

Ian glared at her and knocked her stick away. Gabriella felt her pupils dilate as she focused and soon Ian was slammed back into the floor, his body rocking as a wave of Power hit him with tremendous force.

"What the hell was that?" He asked, his voice sounding somewhat weakened. He gritted his teeth as he could feel every muscle in his body tense up painfully.

"That was something called a Power Burst. It's quite easy to master, actually." Gabriella grinned, grabbing his wrist and locking it, her hand holding his and stick on top of his wrist. She could use leverage here to cause severe pain—or break the bone, of course, only if she wanted to.

"Do you yield?"

"Screw off."

"I'm going to break your wrist."

"Fine. I hope you enjoy it." He said, sneering.

Truthfully, Gabriella didn't _want_ to break his wrist. But she knew she had to. And she had to do it soon, before he gathered enough strength to throw her off of him.

"Ian, give!" She put enough pressure on his wrist that it really hurt.

He gave her an evil glare through his thick lashes and lay there, not saying a word.

"You're so damn stubborn!" Gabriella applied even more pressure.

She could tell she was hurting him. It was hurting her to even keep the steady pressure up. Shooting stars of pain were zinging in her elbow.

"Gabriella, release your brother." Celeste said, leaning against the doorframe and shaking her head. Gabriella looked up at her mother and seemed to be contemplating on what to do before sighing and letting his arm drop to the floor with a dull _thud_.

"You two are so competitive. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing." Ms. Montez said, eyeing the two of them as she briskly walked over and returned the two oak sticks to their rightful spots.

Ian huffed and Gabriella smiled weakly before getting up and pulling her mother in a tight, painful hug. Kissing her cheek, she let go and disappeared from the room, leaving the two of them bewildered at her sudden disappearance.

* * *

Shuffling to her bed, Gabriella winced as she felt her arm trying to mend itself back to perfect health. Lying on her bed, she lay there before letting her thoughts consume her. Ian was definitely getting stronger; he made that fact perfectly clear today. She couldn't believe how hard it had been to get him onto his back, much less get him to give up.

She smiled to herself and admired the fact that he actually took her teachings seriously. He hadn't been able to fight like that when they first began sparring and she felt pleased that her lessons were finally starting to sink in. Looking out towards her balcony, she felt her breath catch in her throat as her mind suddenly wandered off to Troy.

He was just a human—a good looking one at that—but other than that, why did Gabriella feel so attracted to him? She reminisced how his voice sent chills down her spine, how his eyes seemed to glaze over when he first spotted her that day. His choice of friends bemused her as she could see that he truly wasn't that type of guy. She couldn't understand any of it.

_Troy Bolton_, she thought as she began to slowly drift off to sleep. _Who are you?_

* * *

**A/N:** I think I like the way I ended this one better than last time so as always, read and review. I would love to hear more feedback so if you guys have any suggestions, I am more than willing to take them! Be sure to look out for the "Blood Lust" cover I'll be working on soon. I will be posting it on my bio when it is complete.


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